Holsten: Judge's daughter: Dad 'my hero'

Thirty-two years ago, my dad, John W. Beam Jr., was sworn in as juvenile court judge for Chatham County, and my career as a judge’s kid began.

I don’t remember much about the swearing-in ceremony, except that I wore a favorite frilly dress and I was a bit jealous of my older brother who got to hold the Bible for the oath-taking. But I was aware — in my own five-year-old way — that the black robe my dad now wore meant something important.

My dad has always been my hero, a man of integrity, compassion and justice. My respect for him has grown through the years as our family watched him carry out his duties as judge.

Sometimes his responsibilities meant late-night phone calls when life-or-death decisions about a child’s welfare had to be made. On more than one occasion, he shared with me how he was agonizing over a decision he had to make.

Oftentimes his job wasn’t so dramatic and meant hours of sitting at the kitchen table filling out orders (or as my daughter calls it, “Bop’s homework”).

As kids, my brothers and I were entertained by the stories Dad would tell us about the day’s antics in court. We were amazed at the shenanigans young people — and sometimes parents — were capable of.

Being a juvenile court judge, Dad has been fluent for these 30 years in teenager-speak, and more than a few times I went to him asking what a certain phrase meant.

Sometimes my dad would explain a case to us, and then challenge us with, “What would you decide if you were the judge?”

There were a few tense moments when I was in high school that being a judge’s kid wasn’t so cool. I sometimes feared some kid at H.V. Jenkins High School would seek me out for revenge for something my dad had done to them. A few of my friends had to go before my dad for traffic violations or simple misdemeanors like toilet-papering someone’s yard.

But my biggest fear was that I would do something royally stupid and wind up standing before my dad. Maybe that is what kept me out of trouble when I was younger. I had seen the inside of a detention cell, and I never wanted to go there.

Last December I had the opportunity to take my older two kids to Dad’s court and see him in action. I was glad to see Dad still giving out the same no-nonsense advice to kids and encouragement to their caregivers.

I saw on my kids’ faces the same awe and respect I remember feeling whenever I saw Dad in the black robe (and they had the same question I always had: why doesn’t he use the gavel?).

My tenure as a judge’s kid came to a close Sept. 28, when my dad retired. My husband, four kids, and were unable to attend, as we live on the other side of the world in Papua, Indonesia.

Since I couldn’t be there at his retirement ceremony, I want to say how proud I am of my dad’s work as juvenile court judge.

I am blessed to have had my Dad as a father. The people of Chatham County have been blessed to have him as a champion for their young people.

Natalie Beam Holsten is the daughter of former Chatham County Juvenile Court Judge John Beam Jr., who retired Sept. 28. She lives in Indonesia. She and her husband David, also from Savannah, have worked for Mission Aviation Fellowship for 12 years. He is a pilot-mechanic, flying small airplanes into isolated villages to support local churches, schools and clinics.

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Natalie, I am sure that when your father picks up his paper today and reads this article he will weep with joy. There is no way to analyze and come up with the statistics for how many of Savannah's youth he helped shape and influence. The numbers are likely staggering. He spent a lifetime in public service to his community and I feel certain that he feels good about that. But there's nothing like having confirmation that, in his number one priority, his own children - he has done an outstanding job. Your tribute to him confirms that.

May Judge Beam enjoy his retirement in the knowledge of a job well done!